PSG, Marseille and Lille will benefit from a weekend off. But is it fair?
This was no normal weekend in Ligue 1. Elsewhere in Europe, there were scenes of joy in Leverkusen as Xabi Alonso’s side ended Bayern Munich’s run on 11 straight titles, while at Anfield and the Emirates, there were scenes of despair as Liverpool and Arsenal ceded crucial ground to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. It was a little quieter in France.
In late March, the LFP, Ligue 1’s governing body, decided to postpone three of this weekend’s fixtures. As part of an initiative to bolster French sides’ chances of progressing in Europe, PSG, Marseille and Lille had their games postponed until after the current round of European knockout fixtures.
PSG go into the return leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona with a one-goal deficit to overturn. Lille and Marseille trail Aston Villa and Benfica, respectively, by the same margin before their return fixtures on Thursday. Last week was not France’s finest on the European scene but the extra rest can only help; whether or not the clubs progress is another question entirely but the governing body has created optimal conditions for success.
Success in Europe is seen as a key aspect of growing the French game, especially given Kylian Mbappé’s expected departure at the end of the season and the LFP’s attempts to garner a high fee for Ligue 1’s broadcasting rights. Mbappé’s untimely departure has certainly made the LFP’s task considerably more difficult.
Despite this context, the LFP’s decision to postpone games has not garnered universal praise – far from it. The
Le Havre president, Jean-Michel Roussier, sounded the starting gun for a debate on the initiative last week. With his club mired in a relegation battle, Roussier is acutely aware that the rearranged fixtures will affect his team.
Last weekend, with an eye on their Champions League fixture giants Barcelona, PSG fielded a weakened lineup against relegation-fighting Clermont Foot, picking two academy products who were making their first starts for the club. Clermont left the Parc des Princes with a precious point, angering the Le Havre president. Roussier accused PSG of showing “contempt” towards the league. “I’ve constructed a text to send to Ligue 1 to express how I feel seeing PSG make fun of our league,” he said. “They’re taking the piss out of people.”
Roussier added that seeing PSG’s lineup was the “cherry on top of the cake” of a “week of anger” in which the LFP told him that his club’s match against PSG would likely be postponed if PSG progress to the Champions League semi-finals. The fixture changes could mean that Le Havre have to face all three of Nice, PSG and Marseille within the final week of the season. Such a scenario would also mean that the league would be bending their rule that the final two matchdays of the season are set in stone. Roussier says he will not accept this and will do what he can to fight it.
His anger reflects a broader feeling that smaller clubs are not treated fairly. “We’re just here to make up the numbers,” he said in an explosive radio interview with RMC in which he accused PSG of showing “minimum respect for the league”.
It is a viewpoint that is shared. The Nantes manager, Antoine Kombouaré, who played for PSG, managed PSG and supports PSG, also disagrees with the initiative: “The LFP wants to protect clubs in European competitions but, at the same time, you can’t weaken sides playing for survival. I think the league should protect the league; European competition comes after.”
Not all of the league’s smaller clubs agree. Lorient, who were scheduled to face PSG this weekend, said they will “always show solidarity with French clubs competing in European competition”. Their display of selflessness is admirable but other clubs of similar standing should not be denigrated for not following suit.
The divisive initiative is an indi